


bets off (it's twelve o'clock)

by highrollers



Series: the fallout; it was supposed to be the end [1]
Category: Sadie Sparks
Genre: Character Study, budding relationship? idk, light fluff n angst, literally wrote this in a night on a whim, s1 coda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-05
Updated: 2020-10-05
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:02:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26831107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/highrollers/pseuds/highrollers
Summary: After the dust settles, when the sacrifice is made, when the lovers go out and the evil is contained and the sun sets; this is a long night. They figure out that talking about the pain usually helps [slightly ooc but context-wise fight me].
Series: the fallout; it was supposed to be the end [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2025130
Comments: 2
Kudos: 3





	bets off (it's twelve o'clock)

Light bobbed on the late tides of the lake as she sat next to him, placing the lantern behind her. He barely shifted in response, just staring out to the waters and perhaps beyond, to the bed he left behind and the adrenaline rush he rode through not only a few hours ago.

It was a game, always a game to see who would blink first, would give in first, would give up first. But she was tired and he was raw inside and there was too many unspoken questions in the air for them to act out their routine as usual.

[Especially as usual.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k33DynrVjHg)

[so that’s it? you’re just giving up?]

“Did you mean it?”

He just kept on looking forward, intent to see anything but her face. “Mean what?”

She huffed in response (maybe still the same, he mused), elbowing him as hard as she could. “With the whole love thing, git.”

“I never admitted to loving you, genius. But with you being not-as-bad-of-a-wizard, well I’d say whoever closed the rift single-handedly without asking for help deserves at least some of the credit.” He grimaced. “Even though that was a stupid move in itself.”

She elbowed him even harder than before; an effort only superseded in the way he managed to pointedly ignore her. “You’re only saying that because you couldn’t do it yourself. And I say, coming from you, that's practically wedding bells.”

“Believe me, it costed me a lot to say that. And since then I’ve been teased relentlessly about it, so I’m starting to rethink my choice. Maybe hanging out with idiots is making me more of one myself.”

“Maybe we’re both idiots,” she murmured. He gave a gruff laugh at that, moving his hands from his lap to the wooden planks on either side of him.

[you really need to brush up on our family history]

It was quiet once more at the lake, the crickets chirping and a nearby hoot echoing in the woods behind them; neither of them talking because maybe there was too many things to cover in one night and they were tired and it was getting nearer to the devils hour than they wished.

He just sighed, kicking his feet underneath the pier. “How was your date? Can’t imagine how it went considering you only had an hour to yourselves.”

She shifted on the planks, a creaky noise that made them both jump before giving in to late-night hysteria and give a small laugh (hers was a giggle, a flash of lightning; his was a snicker, thunder to tail the light). She waggled her eyebrows suggestively at the question. “Be careful or you’ll start sounding like you care about these type of things. And for the record, we had a bit of a walk and talk, a little bit of time at his house. You know, the normal stuff.” She looked down, and he took it as an invitation to now place his hands on hers. A fizzle of light sparked before dying.

“Still?” Quiet, diminished, trying not to make it any worse than it really was (it was worse as it already was, as it stood) 

She hummed, threading her fingers through his. “Maybe. I don’t see how you’d care.” (they already knew that though).

“Look Sparks, I just…” he kneaded his hair (that hair, so ridiculously smooth and good-looking) in frustration, trying to find the right words to explain the complicated rush of feelings he had when he saw her there (in the middle on the rift, just one rip away from being gone, gone, so gone / imagine a world without that annoying laugh and protectiveness and lord he was so close to just being alone) (he couldn’t jump in there even if they didn’t stop him / he wasn’t nearly as brave or as selfless as he would like to think). “You’re an idiot, and one that seems to like risking her neck way too much to be sane, let alone healthy… but still. Don’t scare us like that.”

She rolled her eyes, bringing her knees up and resting her head on it. “Us,” she repeated.

“…Me,” he bit out in return. She chuckled before giving out a yawn. He saw his opening and took the chance to ramble out everything he’s been keeping in his chest, to at least feel some of the freedom that she always seemed to be living in. “What you did was so reckless and dumb and I swear I would say that I wasn’t scared but I was and—and I’m so sorry that I have to feel this way but I can’t help it and if I could I—”

And it was her hand on his chest, another wiping away one stray tear from his face as he dimly realized he started crying a while ago and damn those complicated feelings. If he could, he would've torn them out of his heart a long time ago, spare them both of the troubles and pain of it. “I… don’t blame you. Even if you are a bit of a selfish jerk at times. Okay most times. But still, I don’t want to promise something I can’t give but maybe… at the very least we could be friends?”

[at least family still means something to me]

He snorted through his tears, wiping them away with one of his sleeves. “More like frenemies.”

She groaned, flopping dramatically on the pier. “Ugh, do not remind me of that dumb show. I just got the ending credits out of my head.”

“Good to see you’re not entirely sappy.”

“And good to see you still can snark through literal tears.”

“These,” he said, “is just the result of the spray of water getting into my eyes. Nothing more. Also forgot to say I’m sorry about the whole Covert thing. Really didn’t see that coming.”

Tilting her head while facing the sinking moon, letting the light glint on the various metal trinkets she had on her person, she gave a wane smile. “I guess that was the whole point, huh? It was only a matter of time ‘til she found out wasn’t it? I’m happy that she didn’t figure you out at least.”

“But,” and at that he put his hands on her shoulders and looked right at her eyes (same colour, different hue; intensity off the charts and looking so worn out despite the flicker of brightly-blue still smoldering in them), “you were found out. How can you sit there and tell me that you weren’t scared at all?! If I can suck it up and tell the truth then at the very least—”

“Because I would be lying!” she yelled in returned, shaking him off. She took a few breathes, tried to steady her frantic breathing, trying to quell the panic that kept rising (as if the name would summon the ghost from wherever she ended up / she couldn't imagine what she was going through) (all because she wouldn't believe her / maybe this was her fault). “Because,” she said in a softer voice, “it hurts thinking on how close I was to messing up again. I’m always the screw up. Everyone says it. Even you.”

He blinked, letting his hand hover in the space between them. “You know I didn’t mean it, not really. I didn’t know—who-who else said that?”

[reckless, irresponsible, foolish-]

“Everyone.” A simple not-answer.

“Was it about the magic block?”

She looked up. “No, that was… slightly worse than usual. But it doesn’t matter, doesn’t it? The day is saved. Covert is gone. Balance is restored, for however long we have.”

“But—ugh, you’re just so frustrating sometimes!”

“Good to know something can get underneath your skin.”

He shook his head ruefully, looking up at the stars. “Good to see you can still quip while in literal tears.”

Now it was her time to blink, to touch her face to only come back with wet fingers. “What do you know? Maybe the ever-happy can be sad once in a while.”

[of course you never meant to! you never do!]

“Sparks, I meant what I said before. You’re not bad, for a wizard.”

“And you’re not bad yourself, for a wizard that is.”

He made a move to get up, grabbing his own lantern and disappearing it with a snap of his fingers. “Let’s go your way for now. I’ll take yours back to the Labyrinth.”

“But isn’t the portals still closed?” she asked, dusting off her pants as she squinted against the dawning light. They were here for a long time, and maybe that was good. Maybe that was better than being alone with whatever nightmares awaited their beds.

He gave his signature smirk, beating at his chest with his other hand while grabbing her lantern. “When has anything stopped this guy?”

She stopped walking ahead of him, pulling a face at him while thrusting a finger at his chest whilst on her tippy-toes. “Many things and people, for one being me.”

“As if you ever. Just… I don’t want to see you this hopeless, okay? It doesn’t feel nearly as good when I beat you when you’re like that.”

She withdrew her hand, rubbing the silver ring on her thumb. “I can’t guarantee, but a deal's a deal.”

“What?!”

She patted his shoulder condescendingly. “You know, daily therapy lessons. Or should I say nightly?” He looked down at his hands and noticed a faint glow before it dimmed.

“You… just made a magical deal with me?” he whispered.

She shrugged but still held her uncertain smile with a shrug. “Well, I figured we need to vent at least a little, and today was nice. I mean, not every night, obviously. But yeah, a little time off for our amazing selves would be nice.”

“Obviously,” he echoed numbly. How she even had enough power to do that after all of today was… astronomical. She was astronomical. He made a mental note to check whatever books he could on her condition before punching her shoulder. “Don’t let your guard down. We’re still rivals, remember? Me against you.”

She shook her hair out of her eyes before giving a salute. “And us against the world, yeah, yeah I know. Don’t you with yours. See ya later, Blaine the pain!” And she was off, the sunrise outlining her. And it him swinging the lantern behind his back, shading the rising sun from his eyes before allowing a genuine smile to grace his lips.

“See you later, Sparks,” he whispered as he walked his own path away from the pier.

Maybe he could do something right.

[[seriously, what does she see in him?]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFMvSGAEGV4)

-

[i fear our troubles are far from over]

**Author's Note:**

> [[Honestly, this show was what I dubbed 'The Better ML' in terms of structure and relationships. Also was a show that I'm extremely impressed (*coughcough in love coughcough*) with, considering I never expected such a show to exist in the first place (like, who has ever thought of a supernatural [urban fantasy?] sitcom that manages to blend perfect character development along with stunning worldbuilding and interesting plot!).]]
> 
> That said, I'm now in limbo wondering if S2 will ever come out, so in the meantime I'm just going to write down fics and think up theories and doodle til then :3
> 
> Edit): Rant aside, I have to admit that limbo has given me enough time to wonder what happened with that whole 'we're going to dump a love triangle on you at the last possible moment :D' and well, while I do have a few guesses, not even I can assume to guess the shenanigans that will ensue with the so call net-of-incomprehensible-love this show had gave us (idk if you can tell but analysis has kept me up many nights and i have either went so off-track or basically guessed everything :')). Also I've been fiddling with this fic and many other drafts I have so don't be too surprized if something looks different- it probably is. I might add more to this note/fix it up so in the meantime (or in the case I don't) have a good day fellow readers and thanks for everything!! :))


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